Phobias and Cats?

Question

My cat just now came out from under the bed following a thunder storm. Normally, this cat is fearless. Thunder, on the other hand, scares the hell out of her. She's gone...under the bed...and won't come out until she thinks it's safe. One crack of thunder and she hauls ***.

Can cats be broken of phobias? Obviously, hers are thunder storms. I have never had a cat in my life that was so scared of them. She comes out from under the bed wanting to cuddle and curl up beside me. She's next to me right now, purring but still shaking.

Does anyone else have a cat that has a phobia (other than the norm...dogs, whatever)? I have never seen a cat with such a strong reaction to storms.

She's a 15 year old Himalayan, by the way.

Answer 1

yes phobias can be broken, but will be hard with an older cat. Try getting a cd of a thunderstorm ( $5 crazy clarks worked for me). load the cd player, would be good if you have a remote. Cuddle your kitty and let her know she is safe and hit play. When she gets scared, turn it off and cuddle her again, use food as a reward. play the cd again. Over time, with food as a reward and cuddles to let her know she is safe. She may get over this. If she hauls *** (i love that) turn off the cd, get to her level under the bed and coax her out with food. ( something she doesn't usually get but loves) dont'play it again until she is settled. It should get to the stage you can play the whole cd of thunderstorms and she wont care.
I resuced my kitten during a thunderstorm and it took nearly two years for her now be able to just sleep right thought a really bad storm like it's never happened.

Answer 2

Oooh a big fluffy ball of fright. I have one of those, but he's a 2 year old domestic short hair. He's generally a little tweaked at some things, a bit jumpy, but 95% of the time he's good with noise and sudden movements etc. We actually just had a thunderstorm here a few nights ago, my older female cat (4 years), could care less. The male, under the bed at the very far end huddled by the wall. I wasn't about to dig him out of there for sake of my arms and scaring him further. I coaxed him out, laying on the floor, telling him "everything is okay". Despite the fact that I looked like a head case on the floor... he came out a little while later, probably 10 minutes or so. He'd been under the bed for about a half an hour already. And he was good to go. The thunder was a little further away, but still loud enough to make him jump and cower to the floor. But he stayed next to me on the couch. I think it's the fact that it's an unexplainable noise (the cat can't see anything actually making the noise) so it's afraid.

She's an old kitty, you've got there, so maybe that has something to do with it too.

Answer 3

WOW a 15 year old cat and she's only just become scared? Is it a possibility that someone or something has scared her recently? maybe she didnt realise it was storm (obviously - I'm quite sure cats don't know that storms are way up in the sky) but maybe she thought it was something else. My boyfriend doesn't like one of my cats (but he loves the other ones...) so he scares it and is mean all the time (which i get very angry about by the way - told him i would leave and take them all with me once). but anyway, my little one was sitting on my lap and he came to sit next to me, Jaffa put his ears right back and cowarded down. then my boyfriend clapped his hands - i've never seen Jaffa move so fast in all his life!! i didn't see him for a couple of hours and then he came and cuddled me. poor little thing he is so cute.

Answer 4

My cats would always be afraid of the first thunderstorm of the season. They'd go under the bed, and sit there all hunched up with their chins on their paws with their eyes real big and looking so worried. The only thing I can think of is to put her in a small place, like the bathroom and put a radio on with the volume low. Doesn't have to be music, in fact talking would probably be better, because the human voice seems to have a calming effect on a cat. Poor kitty. Maybe her hearing isn't what it used to be and that's why a thunderstorm scares her, and it's her age that is showing.

Answer 5

My cat used to do the same thing (& probably still does, but my ex has custody now). I've had other cats AND a few dogs who did the same thing. I heard somewhere a long time ago that animals have very sensitive pads under their paws that sense vibrations. That, added to their exaggerated sense of smell & sight could make a thunderstorm seem like the end of the world. I'd be "phobic" too, wouldn't you? If that doesn't really answer your question, check out this link. I think it might help. http://www.petplace.com/cats/thunderstorm-phobia-in-cats/page1.aspx

Answer 6

Arachnophobia, a terror of spiders, is an really effortless concern that positively has its foundation contained in the truth that some spiders are poisonous or inflict painful bites. The call for this phobia comes from the Greek word for spider, arachne. there is also the Greek delusion of Arachne, a lady from the historic city of Lydia, who had the boldness to project the goddess Athena to a weaving contest. As a punishment, Arachne grow to be grow to be a spider. ailurophobia (from the Greek words ailuro for cat, phobia for concern)

Answer 7

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Answer 8

I don't think that you can cure her of this, just be there when she needs you. If it really bothers you or your sleep you should probably talk to your vet and see what they think. They are the best people to talk to when it comes to your pet as they have been trained in the field. But more than likely it just the loud noise that scares her. I imagine if someone yelled in the house she would probably do it then also. Good luck and God bless.

Answer 9

phobia do comes due to envinorment
it should b wild one u have domesticated it so it is in a calm envinorment now right

i guess u would feed it rather than allowing it to feed itself with the mice or so right?

so ur r creating a envinorment where it looses its nature n obviously u can see such abnormal behaviours
it is natural n dont worry !!abt that

Answer 10

My cats completely ignore thunderstorms that scare the hell out of me.

They get a lot of noise from the train tracks nearby, maybe they've gotten used to it.